Northern Ireland, IRA, Sinn Fèin, Belfast, The Civil Rights Movement, Bloody Sunday, Derry, British Army, Valhalla, Black and Tans, Michael Collins, The Orange Order, terrorism, Catholics fighting Protestants: these terms come to mind when one reflects on the years of violence and struggle that have plagued Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for so many years. "For centuries, a bloody conflict has raged in Northern Ireland between extremist Protestants, loyal to British rule, and nationalistic Catholics, hoping to be united with the Republic of Ireland." (Pogatchnik) Each time the two warring sides seem to be reaching a point that could end the constant violence, on side feels slighted and acts against another. Many events have lead up to the point that the dangerous situation is currently at today, in which each side fights for what they believe belongs to them. Neither party seems to be willing to compromise, when finding the middle ground is just inches away.
English: Picture of a loyalist mural, West Bank of...
Banner and Crosses carried by the families of the ...
English: Millennium Forum, Newmarket Street, Derry...The logical and almost simple solution is for radical groups to disarm, which would end the violence, for the US to stay out of matters that they are not involved in, and for each government to reach a suitable settlement. Ireland is tired of the centuries-long struggle and constant revolution.
One of the major contributors to the violence between the Irish and the British are the radical groups that sprang up to defend each side. When groups of radicals in Northern Ireland are named, the most well known is the IRA, or Irish Republican Army, a terrorist group that fights to reunite Ulster, or Northern Ireland, with the rest of the Republic of Ireland. The group has been around for many years, while not always under the name of IRA. It began around 1906, as the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). In...